International Journal of Agricultural Science Research Vol. 11(2), pp. 018-027, September, 2023 ISSN 2327-3321 ©2023 Academe Research Journals

Full Length Research Paper

“Effect of tillage methods and sowing time on growth and productivity of maize, (Zea mays, var. Shalimar Maize Composite-6) under temperate conditions”

Wajahat yousuf^1*,  Sameera Qayoom²,  Lal Singh¹,  Mytoullah Yousuf³.

¹Division of Agronomy, Faculty of Agriculture (SKUAST-K), Wadura, Sopore (J&K), 193201,India

₂Division of Agronomy, Faculty of horticulture (SKUAST- K), Shalimar,(J&K),190025, India

³School of agrieconomics and hortibusiness management, Faculty of horticulture (SKUAST- K), Shalimar, (J&K), 190025, India

*corresponding author. E-mail: wajahatw54@gmail.com

Accepted 16 June, 2023

Abstract

A field experiment was conducted at Crop Research Farm Faculty of Agriculture, Wadura, during kharif  2017 on  clay loam soil, to study the effect of tillage methods and sowing time on growth and productivity of maize,( Zea mays, var. Shalimar Maize Composite-6) under temperate conditions. The experiment comprising of 12 treatment combinations viz., 3 tillage methods (minimum tillage, ridge bed sowing, and conventional tillage) and 4 dates of sowing (20^th, 21^st  22^nd and 23^rd  meteorological standard week, was laid out in a strip plot design with three replications. The minimum tillage with the Ist sowing date i-e 20^th meteorological standard week resulted in significantly higher grain (45.38qha^-1), (46.70 q ha^-1) , and Stover yield (65.73qha^-1), (69.12 q ha-¹) of maize along with all the growth and yield attributing characters studied. Analysis of the data revealed that minimum tillage with the Ist sowing date i-e 20^th meteorological standard week had a significant effect on days to tasseling, days to silking, plant height, number of plants at 30 DAS and maturity, 100-grain weight, grain yield, biological yield.

Keywords: Maize, treatments, tillage, sowing date, strip plot, meteorological Standard week, Yield.